The moment Fang Bie poked his head out, a foul stench hit him. After getting used to the nearly pure, impurity-free air of that other world, the air here made him feel extremely stifled.
Tony and Yinsen, however, weren't bothered like Fang Bie. They still remembered what it had been like before and knew how terrible the conditions in the cave were, so they adapted quickly.
Sometimes Tony even thought that surviving had to be God's will. Otherwise, given such appalling sanitation and scorching weather, how could he have survived such a crude surgery without dying of infection? It had to be a miracle.
After enduring a long spell of dizziness, Fang Bie finally adjusted to the environment. He had plenty of real-world experience, after all, and knew he couldn't let his emotions interfere with what they needed to do next.
Tony was the first to emerge through the door and take charge. "We don't have much time. Two days ago, Yinsen and I entered through this stone door during their breakfast. That gives us fifteen minutes of downtime. This is the toilet and waste chute, so we can only stay here for three or four minutes at most. We'll have to go out soon."
Fang Bie nodded. "Understood! Let's see if the plan works first!"
He casually pulled an Iron Pickaxe from his chest. It seemed this world hadn't disabled his spatial abilities.
Yinsen, meanwhile, skillfully took a bucket of water from his Backpack and waited for Fang Bie to make a hole in the wall.
Tony had already put on the clothes hanging by the wall. "I'll go out and draw their attention. Stay safe!"
Once he confirmed that he could use the equipment slots, the tension and anxiety in his heart finally eased. He hurried out, without even glancing at the food roasting over the fire, and picked up a hammer nearby, swinging it around.
He was being held here because the terrorists wanted him to replicate the Jericho Missile. That was why they had all these tools and equipment.
And it was thanks to those tools that Yinsen had been able to make an electromagnet to hold the bits of shrapnel in Tony's chest, keeping them from entering his bloodstream and reaching his heart.
In Fang Bie's world, Tony could clearly feel that the wounds on his body were gradually healing. The tearing pain in his chest was also growing weaker by the day.
The blue Arc Reactor in his chest was gradually becoming a source of external power, rather than something essential to keeping him alive.
But as a tech geek, Tony didn't think it didn't suit him. On the contrary, he thought it was cool, so he had never considered taking it out.
The surgery on his chest had left a hole, making it the perfect place to fit the Arc Reactor.
Just as he reached the door and started swinging the stone hammer in his hand, the guards who had been resting returned and turned their attention to the surveillance monitors.
A few minutes later, Yinsen emerged from the narrow passage inside the cave, rubbing his stomach as if he were feeling a little unwell.
The guards watched the monitors listlessly. They had produced nothing for more than ten days, and their boss was getting impatient, so he had assigned several of them to keep watch around the clock.
But the guards had little patience. When they saw the two men swinging their hammers and tools as usual, roasting what they called missiles over the fire, they went off to do their own things. Everyone was busy. Who had time to watch them all day?
They had sealed the place up tight. Not even a fly could get in, so they weren't worried that the two men inside might make any trouble.
Even if they tried to rush out, they'd be riddled with bullets the moment they stepped through the door. They wouldn't stand a chance.
It was precisely because the guards were so complacent that the two men had managed to build most of their armor over the past half month without incident.
Yinsen quietly walked over to Tony, who was still hammering metal, and put on his suit jacket.
If the guards had looked closely, they would have noticed that the two men, who should have been shirtless while working, were now fully dressed and quietly gathering little items from around the room, stuffing them into their pockets.
The pockets were just a cover. Both men had personal Backpacks, and in that moment, they had already stowed away all the items they considered important.
So anyone still watching the monitors would have seen something extremely strange.
The two men were merely tidying things up, yet they were stuffing nearly everything on the table into their pockets—and their clothes still showed no sign of carrying any extra weight.
Tony had actually had all his belongings confiscated. What he was gathering now were materials he had made during this time, along with the sheets of drawings on the table.
As the place where Iron Man truly came into being, it was only natural that he wouldn't abandon the inspiration that had struck him in a flash. Instead, he kept working to develop it.
After discovering the strange monsters around him in MC, he had only become more determined.
"Fang Bie found a hole where we can release the water. He said he'll make an infinite water source at the highest point in our cave, then send water down from the mountaintop into every cave."
Yinsen pretended to draw plans beside Tony and spoke so softly his lips barely moved.
"We'd better stand together and get the door in place before the water comes. Then..." Tony quietly reminded him, slipping an object that looked like a bracer onto his hand.
"We've spent all this time making armor. We'll have to wait until we escape to test it again!" he said with a sigh, though his eyes held little regret, only determination.
"Heh!" Yinsen chuckled. "I'm not thinking about that. I just want to get back to my village and see my parents."
Though he was a highly intelligent medical doctor, his simplest wish was to go home. Fang Bie, who had read the original story, already knew that Yinsen's parents had passed away long ago. It seemed he simply wanted to go home.
Tony didn't know that. He patted Yinsen on the shoulder and said firmly, "My plan is sound. We can both go home!"
Just then, an unwelcome voice sounded outside the door. "Open the door! I want to talk to them!"
Tony frowned, his expression suddenly turning grim. He looked at Yinsen. "Have you packed everything?"
Yinsen understood at once. He quickly stuffed the last teacup on the table into his Backpack, threw on his jacket, and raced toward the wall at the back.
"Go!" Tony followed right behind him. The instant the door opened, they slipped into the small cave behind it!
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